


let me bring you where two roads meet

by Adarian



Series: Punk [4]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Childhood Sweethearts, F/M, Fade to Black, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Sex, So much Fade to Black, early 2000s feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 13:57:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18801721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adarian/pseuds/Adarian
Summary: Peter never thought he'd see Gamora, his childhood sweetheart of a single afternoon, ever again. Now a college radio astronomy intern, he's shocked to see both Gamora and her sister in a tour of the observatory where he works. When Gamora reveals that she and Nebula are on the run from their abusive father, Peter offers his home to them. Hidden away in the forests of West Virginia, Peter and Gamora very quickly fall in love, not knowing what the future holds.





	1. Sister, Do You Know My Name?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I started writing this pre-Endgame to deal with what would of course destroy me and it worked out as I had a lot of Nebula feelings after seeing the movie. However, it did mess up my OTP so expect a long Stucky thing coming out. This is also a pain as I had two different Dragon Age WIPs so who knows what's coming out when.

**CN: description of previous domestic violence, homophobic violence**

_2000_

When Peter was seven years old, he spent an afternoon with the girl of his dreams. It was his grandfather's birthday party and an old friend of his had dropped by with her granddaughter. Peter wasn't great at meeting new people when he was little but there was something about her that he really liked. For a few hours, they shared his Walkman and they talked about life - as deep as any kids talk - and they made a promise that they'd be best friends forever. And then he never saw her again. 

He had only told that story once. He was sixteen, lying in bed beside the girl who had just taken his virginity. She had thought it sweet and maybe the beginning of a confession of love for her, but Peter hadn't meant it like that. He hadn't meant it like anything. He had just felt like he needed to break the silence. And honestly, he felt like he needed to explain himself. There wasn't anything to explain it was just...it was just this feeling like he had messed up. 

It didn't stop him from having sex with her again or with...God, how many women had he slept with now in the last three years? It wasn't a comment on them but on him that he couldn't remember. He liked sex and sex didn't have to mean anything. And relationships...he liked the idea of them. His family was full of these long epic love stories and childhood sweethearts and all the dramatic clichés you could want. So with all that and the surprisingly frequent dreams of someone he met once, he was reluctant to get into anything that felt like it might fizzle out. And yeah, part of his mind sometimes maybe once in awhile wondered what Gamora was like now. Had she gone to college? Was she dating someone? Married? Moved to Thailand? It didn't matter. If he was going to have a big ass love story, it wasn't going to be with her. And even if it was, big ass love stories come with a lot of baggage. The good ones always had obstacles, always pining and suffering and that junk. He was nineteen and halfway through his degree. He was happy not having any of that. Space was exciting enough.

Most of the time. Okay, some of the time. Usually it was just really noisy and he'd have to sit there for twelve hours at a time listening to black holes belch and take notes. He had been promised aliens. To be fair, that was Tony promising him aliens, but Peter had still expected something more exciting. It was a good summer job and Peter was really damn lucky to have it. He needed experience and the money. And having a little cabin in the middle of nowhere was boring but it was nice having space after growing up in a crowded century home in Brooklyn. The first six weeks he had gone a little stircrazy but his Mom was sending him a burnt CD every week of new things he might like and she was usually right. And he was probably getting shredded with nothing to do but work out. Though he was eating a lot of pizza so it was probably cancelling it out. It didn't matter. There weren't a lot of women to impress in the middle of the forests of West Virginia. There were really just his co-workers. He liked them and they liked him, but he was just a kid and as smart as he was, he had gotten a summer job there because of who he knew. There were people getting their PhDs who had applied for the spot. Peter should have felt guiltier about taking it, but apparently the PhD candidate had all been real a-holes. None of them would have worked a Saturday afternoon to cover for a colleague. They probably would have had their own little league soccer games to go to. 

Unfortunately, he was not the only person covering that day. With both tour guides out sick, Peter's supervisor was forced to lead tourists through the facility. Doctor P'Lotor, known to everyone as Rocket, had been part of the Apollo program when he was Peter's age. Rocket was a genius, but his social niceties were...lacking. When Peter's lunch break came, he was more than happy to lean over the railing of upper floor and watch the man struggle through the experience. The first tour had gone so badly that Rocket had dragged his Dutch co-worker along for the second, despite the fact he only spoke four words of English.

Peter ate his sandwich, listening to Rocket try to explain something to a three year old who just kept asking "why." Rocket was pretty close to losing it, but Van Groot had a calming enough presence that he was holding it together. Peter chuckled, looking through the rest of the group, seeing what other characters would press all of his boss' buttons. There were the typical SETI nerds, someone who looked like a new age cultist, bored parents with overactive kids, a few roadtrippers who clearly didn't realize how long the tour was going to be, and then two girls around his age. 

One was pale with a closely shorn red hair, a single pierced ear, a pierced eyebrow, and what looked to be a semi-permanent scowl. The ripped jeans and the ancient leather jacket didn't look like an affectation but a message. She did not give a shit. She would never give a shit. And if you tried to make her give one, you'd regret it. Accompanying her was her polar opposite. She was dark skinned and her long black wavy hair's bottom half was dyed a soft magenta. She wore a light floral summer dress and while her brown hiking boots matched her friend's, her jacket was worn denim with a badly repaired hole on her breast pocket. As if she knew he was looking at her, she looked up and even across the distance, when her eyes met his it was if he had been zapped by a faulty wire. It was her. It had been twelve years but he was surer of it than he had been in anything in his life. It was her. It was Gamora. 

He gave a weak wave and she smiled at him, waving back. His chest tightened. Should he go down there? Did she know who he was or was she just being friendly? Was he just about to make this all really weird?

Rocket seemed to notice Peter awkwardly waving to his tour and he pointed him out. "That's our intern, Peter Quill. We make him take the night shifts because he's a kid and still has his life ahead of him. This is the first time I've seen him in daylight in three weeks. Glad to know he's not dead. Moving on, we're going to look at a whole bunch of computers you're not smart enough to be impressed by."

At his name, Gamora's smile faltered and she mouthed his name. "Peter?"

The group started moving and her companion grasped her wrist, pulling her along. Peter raced down the stairs. Luckily, Rocket was too busy chastising one of the SETI nerds to notice his intern abandoning his post and joining the tour.

At seeing Peter, Gamora gently took the other girl's hand off her wrist and said, "It's okay. He's a friend. I'll catch up with you soon."

The girl glared at him for a moment before rejoining the group. Gamora and Peter stared at each other as the tourists walked away, waiting to speak until they were relatively alone.

Gamora began, "Do you remember-"

Peter was too eager to talk to let her speak. "Of course I do."

"I never thought I'd see you again," she admitted, taking his hand. "I thought about writing to you a hundred times but..."

He wasn't trying to look at her chest, but her jacket shifted and he saw the bandage her spaghetti strapped dress couldn't quite cover. Now that he was looking closely, he could see the bruising surrounding it on her dark skin. There were more on the underside of her arms. It looked like someone had grabbed her wrists hard and refused to let her go.

He wasn't sure how to ask and she didn't give him the chance to. She reached into her damaged pocket and pulled out a Sharpie. She took his hand and wrote an email address on it.

"I've got to get back to my sister," Gamora apologized. "It was good to see you, Peter. Hopefully we can chat sometime."

Peter panicked. "Wait, don't go."

Gamora shook her head. "I can't. I...I'm sorry."

She started down the hallway and stopped halfway. She turned to face him once more and he wasn't sure which one of them started running but soon he was holding her hands in his and convincing her to follow him. Once they got into his office, he plugged the data stream straight into the computer, bypassing his headphones. The sounds of the universe chirped quietly in the background as they looked across the room at each other, neither knowing who should speak first.

Finally Peter asked, "Are you safe?"

Gamora considered this and replied, "Safe enough."

"You sure? Because it looks like someone tried to stab you."

Gamora crossed her arms against her chest, wincing. "Someone did stab me. I just had my wallet in the way. The leather stopped most of the glass. Broken beer bottle. Not the sturdiest weapon. He's usually smarter than that."

Peter was too stunned to speak and didn't have time to come up with a response before she spoke again. 

Gamora sighed. "How long is the tour?" 

"I caught you about fifteen minutes in, right? Usually you'd have at least an hour and a half but I don't know if Rocket's going to make it through that. We've got some time though." 

Gamora spotted his Discman and went over to his desk. She picked up the jewel case of his Mom's latest mix and glanced over her chicken-scratched track list. Peter sat down in his only chair and found his earbuds in a drawer. He plugged them in and offered them to her. She accepted but put only one in, putting the other in his ear. She pressed play and leaned against his chest. It was incredibly intimate but it was just like they had been when they were young. It felt oddly right. It felt like they had done this a hundred times before. They had just switched INXS for Coldplay. 

She murmured, "My stepfather is...he's hard to explain. He's got a lot of ideas. Some of them could be brilliant, but mostly...he's not a good man, Peter. I should have left when I turned eighteen but I couldn't leave my stepsister with him. I'm glad I didn't. If I hadn't been there...eight weeks ago, she got caught kissing a girl behind the house. It got bad. He beat her and when I tried to intervene he, well, you saw the bandage. Nebula hit him with a baseball bat and we ran. We've been running since then. It's been harder on her and she's getting worn out always moving. She's a space nerd and I thought it be safe enough to spend the day here."

"Do you guys have a place to stay tonight?"

Gamora shook her head. "We'll be fine. We'll sleep on the bus."

"Where are you going next?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "We just got to keep moving for awhile. He can't know where we are. Ever. There'll be somewhere safe eventually. But we've only been on the run for a few months. He's not going to give up on us, but this is the best chance we've got to make it hard for him. It doesn't matter where we go. We just can't stay still."

"How'd you feel about going back to Brooklyn?"

Gamora refused, "No. He knows I've got family there, even if it's distant. He'll look there. It has to be somewhere that has nothing to do with us."

Peter cocked his head. "Well, what if we made it _look_ like you went to Brooklyn. Buy tickets heading that way, get off the bus, and head back this way. Then come stay here for a while."

Gamora asked skeptically, "With you?"

Peter's confidence faltered for a half second but he recovered. "Yeah, with me. I could use the company. I don't get TV out here worth a damn and it's an hour to anywhere anything like civilization. It's six weeks until I've got to go back to school. It'd give you time to figure things out. It's a family tradition helping out people in trouble. I think the ghost of my great-granddad would haunt the shit out of me if I didn't at least offer."

"Did I meet him at the big family reunion?"

Peter shook his head. "Nah, he was already gone by the time I came around. You would have met my grandfathers though and even though they're in their eighties now, they'd still kick my ass if I gave them a reason to."

Gamora chuckled. "So this is all out of fear then?"

Peter shrugged. "Maybe I'm being selfish. Having two gorgeous women around? There's worse things for a guy to put up with."

"My sister's gay, remember?"

"Good, since she wasn't the one I was interested in." 

"So then it's all lust then? You expect me to pay you back through sex?"

She wasn't teasing him anymore and whatever easiness they had was gone. He could practically feel her skin hardening like armour. Her sitting in his lap had been adorable a second ago. Now she looked like she might strangle him. And while that could be pretty hot in one context, the other was not something he was into.

He put his hands up instinctively. "Hey, no, nothing like that. I do just fine with the ladies, I don't need to bribe them with a futon."

The song ended and another began, reminding them both they still had their earbuds in. This one Peter knew pretty well. Despite his younger sister only being eleven, she was really into the White Stripes. Peter skipped the track and another began. At this one, Gamora smiled again.

"My Grandma loved Sam Cooke," she said. "She used to play his first record every Sunday after we got home from church. Your Mom's got good taste."

"This is my grandmothers' favourite song," Peter said. "Sometimes Mom does that for a filler track, put something older to play between songs that don't fit together. She probably picked this one with their anniversary coming up."

They listened in silence for a time, Peter's thoughts going back to home. He had grown up being overwhelmed with affection and support structures. He couldn't imagine Gamora's life. He couldn't imagine how terrified he would be. 

Peter offered, "I'll drive you to the Greyhound station. Get on a bus, I'll meet you at the next stop and pick you up. It'll give him a false lead if he's right on your tail. Then you can come to my place, just for the night. My shift's over in two hours though I can probably sneak out earlier. There's a cafeteria downstairs if you and your sister wanted to hang out."

Gamora took out the earbuds and got to her feet. "I should go."

"Wait," Peter begged, "don't. It's okay. You can trust me. I swear. Just don't go." 

"I do trust you, but I don't trust Thanos. The only reason we've been safe this long is if we keep moving. He tried to kill me and my sister and he won't hesitate to try again. I can't bring you into that. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have...I'm sorry. Goodbye, Peter. Take care of yourself." 

Gamora left, shutting the door behind her. Peter sat, stunned. He considered going after her but he didn't want to push it and make her uncomfortable. And if she didn't want his help, he couldn't force it on her. 

"This is a really weird ass day," he muttered.

He glanced at his hand, seeing her email address. He sent her a quick one just so she had his address. Then he tried to put it aside, trying to ignore what must had been some weird hallucination of his childhood sweetheart. 

Yet when he left work, stopping in the cafeteria for a cup of coffee to go, he saw Gamora and Nebula sitting in the corner, waiting quietly. They both looked up at him, Gamora looking even more worn and Nebula impatient. Peter got another two cups and came over with a tray. 

Nebula said, "You'll have to excuse Gamora. She hasn't slept in 37 hours. Normally I would not trust any strange man but clearly with your physique even my sleep-deprived sister could destroy you. We would be grateful for your Greyhound scheme and to have a place to sleep tonight."

Peter tried not to sound too eager. "Then let's get going."

*****

Gamora slept in the back seat of the truck, sprawled out under her jacket. Peter tried to keep his eyes on the road, but his gaze often went to his rear view mirror. It was hard to believe she was still there.

Nebula sat beside him, feet up on the dash, reading _Bitch _Magazine. She occasionally glared at Peter, usually when she caught him gazing at her sister.__

__Peter gently woke Gamora when they got to the station. He bought them their tickets and drove towards the next station. It occurred to him about twenty minutes in that there was nothing stopping them from staying on the bus. He might get there only to be stood up. He might have just said goodbye and he had barely said a thing._ _

__His fears were unfounded when the bus arrived twenty minutes after he did and the sisters disembarked. Gamora saw him and smiled, a smile softer than she had any right to have considering the hell she had gone through. He felt as weak in the knees as he had during his first hangover, puking his guts out for hours. But in a good way._ _

__Peter drove them back to his cabin in the woods and set up the pullout couch for them. He microwaved a pizza and they ate in near silence together. Nebula went to bed but Gamora asked Peter if he wanted to get some air._ _

__Peter went out on the porch with her and sat down on the very suspicious swing. She sat down beside him and pulled her knees to her chest._ _

__"How are you feeling?" He asked._ _

__"Better," she said. "I'm sorry I was being so hyper earlier. I'm just...really tired. I got a few hours in tonight though. But now I don't know if I can sleep again."_ _

__He shifted closer to her and she rested her head on his shoulder._ _

__"I've spent two months being constantly on guard," she explained quietly. "I never knew where to go or who I could trust. All I could focus on was making sure Thanos didn't know where we were and that Nebula was safe. I knew we couldn't do it forever, but I thought I had more in me. I thought I could do it longer before I just fell apart."_ _

__"If this is you falling apart, I think you're still doing okay," Peter commented. "You've got it more together than I do pretty much every day of my life."_ _

__She sighed. "This is your fault, you know. Seeing a ghost from my childhood and having him promise me everything I wanted."_ _

__Peter admitted, "I thought about you sometimes. Like what you were up to. Sometimes when I was a kid I thought we'd might run into each other again and maybe we'd be friends. Not all the time. I mean it's not like I was obsessed with you or anything. Just kid daydreams. Once in awhile. But it feels like it kinda means something that you're here now."_ _

__Gamora confessed quietly, "It feels like that to me too."_ _

__He took her hand in his, even though he knew his palms were sweaty. He knew he shouldn't rush this. She was tired and she was vulnerable but he wanted to kiss her so badly and just hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay._ _

__She kissed him and whatever self-control he had was gone. The rest was a hot, sweaty blur. Beyond pleasure, what he felt most of all was joy._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all remember using "hyper" as an excuse for when you were acting weird? Ah, the Aughts.


	2. Sleepwalking

Peter woke up, feeling a headache coming on. He got up to grab some tylenol but stumbled, realizing he was on the wrong side of the bed. He glanced over and saw Gamora, wrapped up in all the sheets like they were ropes around her legs. She was whimpering in her sleep and still tossing, the sheets only growing tighter around her. Peter rolled back into bed and softly touched her cheek, trying to very gently wake her up. She responded with slapping him hard across the face and only at his shriek did she frantically wake up and immediately start apologizing. Peter groaned as he stood up, nodding as she continued to say how sorry she was, and stumbling towards the bathroom. 

Peter spat up a little blood and then took some painkillers. He returned to his room to find Gamora anxiously dressing in the last night's clothes, insisting she'd wake up Nebula and they would leave right away. 

"Hey," Peter interrupted, "it's fine. You're fine. I'm fine. We're all fine. I just won't do the whole waking you up from a nightmare thing again. I'm okay. Are you okay?"

Gamora started trembling and he went to her side. He asked if he could hug her and he was grateful that she held him instead of hitting him again. He hesitated before resting his chin on her head and drawing her closer.

"It's okay," he murmured. "You're safe."

"I should check on Nebula," she said, still burying her face in his chest.

"I'll get breakfast started. I can cook only two things so you're getting some really sorry looking pancakes from a questionable box mix that was here when I moved in."

Gamora laughed shakily. "Sounds perfect."

He kissed her forehead before they let go and Peter took her hand in his. She trailed behind him as they went into the living room. Nebula was awake and at Peter's computer with a cup of coffee. She barely glanced up at the two of them.

"You were loud enough," she muttered. "I don't know who you were impressing."

Peter rolled his eyes before kissing Gamora's cheek. He went to the kitchen and started scrounging for eggs. He found a pair and started following the recipe on the faded box, concerned he was about to kill them all.

The phone rang and he picked it up, fixing it between his neck and shoulder. "Drax, it's Sunday. This is God's day. You want to blow something up together, you call me tomorrow." 

No one answered but there was a deep low breathing.

Peter sighed. "Look, if you're looking for one of those sex line operators, you're two digits off. 722, not 733. Unless you want the other one, then it's 741. I think."

The phone clicked off and Peter shrugged before going back to his task. Gamora and Nebula had both been watching him carefully and neither looked relieved at him hanging up. 

"Who was it?" Gamora asked.

"No one," Peter assured. "Don't worry about it. A lot of people wrote this number on bathroom walls a few years ago. I don't have an answering machine so I pick them all up in case it's my mother so she doesn't think I'm dead."

Nebula responded, "The other line is 742."

"I'm glad that was the first thing you decided to research," Peter commented. "Please remember that I'm paying for the phone line out of pocket before you spend my whole stipend on girls faking it for you."

Nebula slurped her coffee loudly. "Your uncle is the one paying your stipend and he's worth 500 million dollars on a bad day. He'd manage. I've been researching this area further to see if it is a safe place to hide. So far, my conclusion is that there are few things of interest to anyone."

"Tony Stark is your uncle?" Gamora asked in shock. 

"Sort of," Peter said vaguely, "it's a whole thing and like two hundred pages of improbable gay backstory to get through to explain." 

Nebula continued, "We'll be safe to stay here for a few days at least. I could use some time to work on my project. If you could go to a grocery store and a Radioshack today, it'd be appreciated. Then no one needs to know we're here."

"Should I be worried about you blowing up my cabin in the meantime?" 

Nebula rolled her eyes. "I'm creating a portable callblocker. It'll only allow certain numbers to get through your phone without having to reprogram a line every time you move. It redirects the call so they get a different pizza place in Montana and lets you know who called you and from what area code."

Peter's jaw dropped open. "That's...genius."

Gamora smiled. "I told you she was clever."

Peter said, "Give me a list and I'll see what I can do." 

*****

Peter bought flowers. He had never bought anyone flowers, not for his Mom for her birthday or when Grandpa Steve was in the hospital with pneumonia. He just wasn't a flowers guy and yet there he was in a crappy grocery store looking at flowers. He had never had a girl stay over more than one night before. He wanted Gamora to know this wasn't just some hookup. He wanted her to know he cared but not too much. Roses were for grown ups planning on anniversary sex, carnations were for lazy prom dates hoping to cop a feel. He ended up with some daisies and a vase so he didn't just put them straight into a stolen beer glass. 

Gamora's face lit up when she found them half crushed in a paper bag. Nebula was already talking about what items Peter had or hadn't forgotten, protecting them both with a comfortable cushion of sound. Gamora looked up at Peter with such brightness that Peter wanted to go back into town and buy the rest of the floral department for her. Eventually Nebula spoke directly to him directly and he was pulled back to the present. 

Gamora cooked dinner for all three, a labor-intensive pasta bake that Peter kept insisting she didn't need to make, only figuring out an hour in she was doing it to keep herself busy. Nebula consulted with Peter a few times but his technological knowledge was limited. He knew what the beeps meant but he had no idea how to make them. She was relatively patient with him, as long as he followed directions and listened closely. He probably should have felt stupid having a seventeen-year-old school him so hard, but he had grown up with Tony Stark. By that age, Tony had already done two post-grads and had three-dozen patents under his belt. Given the opportunity, Nebula might have done the same. 

They ate dinner together while watching a DVD of _Space Jam_ , one of only three movies the previous owner had left behind. They ended up watching the other two immediately after: _George of the Jungle_ and about thirty minutes of _The Matrix_. It was about one in the morning then and Nebula was passed out on the couch with a blanket tucked around her. Peter meant to offer Gamora his bed and sleep on the floor, but she led him into the room herself and made it very clear she had more than sleeping on her mind. Twice.

*****

Peter barely got to work on time, which was unusual because it meant he actually was at work on time. He had a day of number crunching ahead of him and was grateful he wasn't responsible for listening to new data coming in. 

To his surprise, he was oddly focused, though it made sense in a weird primal way. He was well-fed, well-rested, and well-laid. He was in a happy little bubble, knowing that once he finished his shift, he'd get to go straight back home to Gamora (and Nebula, but he was mostly ignoring that). He had a strange domestic certainty about it. Of course she'd be there. Of course this was his life now. He'd take care of her and she'd take care of him. They'd be happy together. Maybe they'd move back to Brooklyn together. Maybe they'd get married one day. They had found each other now. The rest of it didn't matter.

He had not expected to come home and find the sisters in a screaming match. He instinctively went to Gamora but she ignored him in favor of throwing a book at Nebula's head. Nebula easily dodged it and went to grab the computer but Peter stopped her, putting himself between them. 

"Hey!" Peter barked. "Don't take it out on the PC. What's going on?"

Nebula pointed at Gamora. "She started it."

Peter raised an eyebrow as Nebula explained, "She was the one who told me we needed to keep moving no matter what, leave no trace, do nothing to show we're here. And yet she picked up the phone when my callblocker isn't ready yet. Thanos could have been on the other line. He could have known where we were."

Gamora insisted, "And like I told my sister, it was just a reflex and there's no way he would be able to guess we were here. We did everything to throw him off the scent. We're safer here than if we resurfaced now."

"You just want to stay here because of him," Nebula accused, turning her angry stare towards Peter. "You think he's going to keep you safe? Him? The rich-kid idiot nobody with a thing for feet crushing cakes?"

Peter interrupted, "Okay, first let's stop looking at my search history and assume that it was research for a friend. Second, I'll just buy an answering machine and then no one needs to pick up the phone. Third, you're welcome for staying at my house? Jesus, this is why I don't have roommates."

Gamora put her hands up. "Look, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. Nebula, if you want to keep moving, we can do that. We both need to feel safe. So if you don't feel safe here, we'll head out tonight."

Nebula continued to glare at Peter. "One more night. Just one."

Nebula and Gamora didn't speak to each other the rest of the evening. Gamora retreated into the bedroom with Peter and lay down on the bed beside him. For awhile they just laid there, staring at the ceiling. 

Eventually Peter said, "I know I'm not exactly the biggest and brawniest guy in the world. I'm not that handsome, I'm only mildly smart, and while sometimes people think I'm funny, your sister does not. I don't have a lot I can offer. As much as Nebula makes fun of me for being rich, that's all my Uncle. Thanks to him I'm not in debt, but I'm also still 19 and not even halfway through my undergrad. So she's right. I'm not the guy who can keep you safe. I'm not even the guy who's big enough to be a punching bag while you run for it. You could kick the shit out of me easy. Which is pretty hot but right not what I was saying. I'm just trying to say that there's not much I can offer you. If you're looking for a safe place to hide out, then maybe I can help, but there's probably some really hot muscled guy with like a mansion and a SWAT team who'd just like annihilate your stepdad and make it look like an accident. He probably won't be in good in bed as me because of all the steroids but he'd put in a good effort at least."

Peter tried to smile but he was too nervous, lost in rambling as he waited for Gamora to protest, to tell him he was wrong and that Peter was perfect. But she didn't and even after Peter had run out of things to say, she was still quiet.

Gamora pulled him close and kissed him hard. He grasped her and brought her into his arms. She kissed him like they were both dying, like this was their last moment on Earth. Peter held onto her, letting her lead, watching her in utter adoration.

He loved her. He had always loved her. He had been born to love her. 

*****

Peter woke up in the middle of the night. He reached out to Gamora but her side of the bed was empty. He rose and walked out to the bathroom. He found her sitting on the side of the bathtub, her face in her hands, stifling her tears. She quickly realized he was there and wiped her eyes. She looked up at him with a weak smile, clearly about to make up some excuse but words failed her.

Peter swallowed hard. "There's a Greyhound station a few hours from here. If we leave now, I can get you both there and get back to work in time. I'm guessing at least. This looks like a four in the morning sort of life crisis."

Gamora remained silent, wrapping her arms around herself. Peter sat down on the floor beside her, leaning against the tub. He rested his head against her bare thigh and her fingers came down to play with his hair. 

"I can't go," she admitted. "I know I should, but I know if I leave I'm never going to see you again. And I can't...I can't walk away. Not from this. Not from you."

"I love you," Peter confessed, "and I don't think I'm ever going to be capable of loving someone as much as I love you right now."

He knelt before her and she held his face in her hands. She leaned down, pressed her forehead to his, and he held her hips protectively. 

"Stay," he pleaded. "We'll figure out the rest later. Just tell me you'll stay."

"I can't leave Nebula either," Gamora murmured. "If she leaves, I need to leave with her. I need to protect her."

At hearing Nebula scoff, both looked up. The redhead leaned against the frame of the door, rolling her eyes.

Peter cleared his throat. "How long exactly have you been standing there?"

"Around the time you swore undying love to my sister," Nebula remarked. "It was almost cute. You sounded like you actually meant it."

Gamora sighed. "Nebula, just-"

Nebula interrupted, "I just wanted to say that I think we should stay. You're going to be miserable on the road and we both need to be focused. We'll stay until you grow bored of each other or his internship is done. We're going to need more DVDs though. I'm sick of _George of the Jungle_."

She left and the pair of them looked at each other hopefully. Peter sat on the edge of the tub with her and kissed her. She kissed him back a bit too passionately and they both fell in, laughing.


	3. That's Where I Belong

**CN: violence, serious injury, hospitalization**

And for a while, that's just how things were. Peter went to work and came straight home after. Nebula worked on her inventions and Gamora went hiking. They'd all eat dinner together, watch some movies, and then go to bed. It should have been really boring, but it felt like the greatest thing he could be doing with his time. He and Nebula were even starting to get along a bit better, especially after he bought her a very expensive set of headphones.

Peter and Gamora risked two dates in local towns and another three just driving down the road together. He took both girls to a movie early on but Nebula was paranoid the entire time and wanted to leave after an hour. 

Neither of them had heard anything from Thanos but his presence was still suffocating. Peter didn't know how to help them feel safer and he didn't know what they were going to do once the summer was over. He and Gamora tried to talk about it once but it only led to them having sex. Honestly, most things led to sex. It wasn't that they never talked. They talked all the time. It was just that neither of them really wanted to think about what happened next. 

Peter wanted her to come back to Boston with him. He'd move out of residence and they'd get a place together. He'd take that job Dr. Banner had offered him and he'd do school part time. He'd support Gamora while she decided what she wanted to do next and Nebula while she finished high school. He kept trying to propose this to her but he couldn't get the words out. He didn't know how to say it without trying to sound like he was trying to save her. She didn't need to be saved. He just wanted her to be happy and he got the sense that right now she was.

About three weeks in and three weeks before his internship was over, the Stark Radio Observatory got a very special visitor: Tony Stark himself. Peter hadn't known his uncle was coming until he felt a pat on his shoulder and saw him standing there. Tony shook his hand in greeting and gestured for Peter to follow him.

"Lab looks good," Tony commented. "No one seems to be killing each other anymore. When I first picked the crew, I thought Rocket was going to murder all his colleagues and make it look like an accident. How are you doing, kid?"

"Good, I guess. What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping you'd make me a sandwich. I've already told your boss you've got the afternoon off. You still got that truck, right? You want to drive us to your place?"

Peter tried to keep calm. "Sure, just - um - let me make a call -"

Tony ignored him, dragging him by the elbow into the parking lot. Peter got into his car and turned on the engine, mentally trying to figure out how to warn the girls. They had a knock they had developed but they hadn't used it because all of them had keys so why bother. Even if he had phoned, neither would have picked up, and he was pretty sure the answering machine was full of prank calls from his sisters. 

They got back to the house just after two. Peter was relieved that he hadn't caught Gamora heading back off the trail but it was likely Nebula was inside working. Peter took as long as he could unlocking the door.

"The place is a mess," Peter warned loudly. "I wasn't expecting company." 

Tony raised an eyebrow before pushing the door open himself and going inside. He started pacing around, examining the living room. 

Peter asked, "So you actually going to tell me why you're here?" 

"Peter, just because I'm the CEO of one of the most traded companies on the New York Stock Exchange doesn't mean I don't care about my family. I have an intern look over your credit card statements. You're my only nephew. If something happened to you, my sister would kill me. When I saw that you were basically living as monk for three weeks, I wanted to make sure you weren't dying or joined a cult or replaced with an alien or something."

Tony's gaze went to the table where Nebula's tools and equipment lay. He walked over, frowning as he looked over the callblocker. 

Tony commented, "You didn't make this, it's too clever. Who did?"

"Just garbage the last person left," Peter lied.

"That you've kept on your kitchen table for months in pristine condition? I doubt it. Who's the secret roommate, Peter? Anyone I know?"

Peter couldn't think of a lie fast enough. Tony went into his bedroom and Peter chased after him, about to explain everything, when all they found was an empty room and an open window. Tony raised an eyebrow before closing the window.

Tony turned to face him again. "Pete, I can't help unless you tell me what's wrong. And trust me, whatever it is, I can probably help or find you someone who can help. So what's going on? What are you hiding?"

Peter admitted, "A friend of mine needed somewhere to hide out for a bit. I haven't been going out because I've been keeping them company at home."

"Just a friend? Do all of your friends give you quarter sized hickies or just the really good ones?"

Peter buttoned up his shirt and cleared his throat. "Just a mosquito bite."

Tony gestured towards the window. "Mosquitoes have opposable thumbs now?"

They heard something fall and Peter raced out to the living room, slamming the bedroom door behind him. Nebula was grabbing her stuff, tossing it into a bag while Gamora held the front door open, hissing at her to keep moving. They saw Peter and Tony soon behind him. Peter cursed loudly.

Tony smirked. "So which one of you is the mosquito? Presumably not the one developing the very cool tech because she'd be smart enough to have better taste."

Peter sighed, "Tony, these are Gamora and Nebula, my house guests. This is my uncle Tony. I think I've mentioned him before."

Tony crossed his arms and nodded at Nebula's project. "It's smart. Crude, but smart. What else you got?"

Nebula crossed her arms, mirroring him. "Crude?"

Tony smirked. "Pete, you want to give me a minute with my new friend here?"

Peter took Gamora outside where she hissed, "What is he doing here?"

"Apparently I'm not drinking and partying enough with you two here," Peter commented. "He wanted to make sure I wasn't dead."

"Couldn't he have done that at the office?" Gamora insisted. "Why didn't you warn us he was coming? No one can know we're here. You promised."

Peter apologized, "I know, I know, but he would have poked and prodded until he got an answer. Better he hears it from me then asking the wrong people about it."

A minute later the door opened and Tony called out, "Family meeting time."

All four of them sat around the kitchen table, Peter taking Gamora's hand in his.

"Right," Tony said, "so you've been hiding a genius out here, Gamora, and I'm not going to leave her to play with Lego while you fondue with my nephew. I've offered Nebula a job and she's thinking about taking it. Junior Junior Junior Engineer. I've got enough security at Stark Industries that she'll be safe at work and I'll make sure she's set up with enough gear to be safe at home. I know a few guys. We can track down that shitstain of a father she has and we can make sure he never crosses a state line again."

Gamora looked stunned. "Just like that?" 

Tony shrugged. "Kid like her, she could be a real investment. Worse case, she burns out all her good ideas in a year and I've wasted what I make in a month. Best case, she ends up making a whole ton of money for me. I've taken worse odds in Vegas just for fun." 

Nebula looked to Gamora. "I won't say yes if you don't want me to but..."

Gamora looked to Peter and Peter agreed reluctantly, "Tony's an asshole but he's good on his word. You can trust him."

Gamora said softly, "I need to talk to my sister alone."

This time Peter went outside with Tony. 

Tony smirked. "She likes you, you know. How'd you pull that off?"

"Are you really just swooping in and saving the day?" 

Tony shrugged. "I'm rich, I can save whatever day I want. This seemed like a good one. I meant it, the kid's smart, smarter than half the idiots in my R&D department. Plus it'll help with the whole gender equity problem. Real sausage fest in there."

The door opened again and Nebula went to Tony, offering her hand. Tony shook, grinning, and saying something to her so quiet Peter didn't hear it. Nebula laughed though and that was probably the most shocking part of the evening. The pair kept talking as they walked inside together.

Gamora asked, "Can we go for a walk?"

Peter took her hand and they went down her favourite trail, one that followed a creek through the trees. She led him to a rock and they sat down together.

Gamora explained, "Tony's offered to take us back with him tonight. There's a guest suite at Stark Tower we can stay at until her apartment is ready. She said she'll go, but she doesn't want to go without me. I need to go with her. I know she can take care of herself but she's only seventeen. I'd worry about her every day. It'll be safer there for me when Thanos comes for us and I know he will. I've had this feeling and it's gotten worse the last few days but I didn't want...I don't want to leave you."

Peter groaned, "Look, I want to be noble but I don't want you to go either. I know that's not fair but I...shit. Shit, you should go. You should go with her. You'll be safer there and I'm only here for a few weeks anyways. We can figure out the rest later, I guess. It's fine. You should go."

Gamora hesitated and then admitted, "I love you. I know I should have said it a long time ago, but I do. I think I've always loved you. I always hoped I'd find you again and just...you tell yourself things when you're a kid. You tell yourself that if there is just this one thing, everything else will work out. And my thing was you."

Peter cupped her face in his hands and kissed her softly.

"You were mine too," he murmured.

After a time, they walked back to the house, still hand in hand. Nebula was at the front door, already packed. At seeing her sister's distraught face, she sighed.

"Look," Nebula said, "just because I don't want to go on my own, doesn't mean I can't. But aren't you going to be bored just waiting around every day for him? You can actually do things in the city and maybe get a life or something. It's like twenty days. You can handle twenty days."

Nebula sighed, realizing she had lost the argument. "Fine, but you're phoning me every day so I know you're not dead. Okay?"

Gamora hugged her sister tightly and kissed her cheek. "Thanks, Nebula."

Tony rolled his eyes, muttering, "Great, can we go now? Peter, my helicopter's still at the observatory. You can all make your tearful goodbyes in forty minutes when we actually get there."

*****

Peter took Gamora out for dinner, just the two of them. Despite Gamora's gut feeling, Peter felt more relaxed. Nebula was safe and worst case if Thanos found them, he'd get him and Gamora to New York and hide out with Tony. And besides, if he hadn't found them yet, he wasn't going to find them.

After awhile, Gamora believed that too. She went into town during the day, just to the library and back, but it was still something. She came back with books about nature, learning about all the plants she had observed during her hikes. The rest of the week, they fell into a new routine, sharing what they had learned and seen all day, and spending a lot of time cuddling in bed together. Peter made her dinner twice and while neither was good, Gamora still appreciated it. It felt like this could be their life, just the two of them, and Peter adored it.

Then six days after Nebula left, there was a knock at the door. Peter frowned but rose from the dinner table and signaled Gamora to head to the bedroom. He went to the door and answered with the deadbolt still attached.

A tall, large man with a thick beard stood on the other side. Peter's blood went cold. He knew exactly who he was without being introduced. Thanos. 

Thanos smiled in false kindness. "Sorry to intrude, but I've had some road trouble. You wouldn't let me use your phone would you?"

"The phone's out," Peter lied, "but I can drive you into town for a tow if you want."

"Really? I find that hard to believe that such a smart man like you would go for such an absurd lie, Peter Quill. I suggest that you open this door. Now."

Peter swallowed hard. "You know what, I don't think I'm going to."

Then Thanos thrust the door open, ripping off the deadbolt. Peter stepped back towards the kitchen, trying to get to the phone. 

Thanos demanded, "Where are they?"

Peter said coolly, "They're gone. Six days ago." 

"Are you sure? Because there are two plates on your dining table, Peter." 

Peter ran to the phone and dialed 911. Thanos ripped the cord out and tossed it aside. He warned, "One last chance, Peter. Where are they?"

Peter then said something that would have horrified his mother to hear. Thanos hit him hard, bashing his fist into his face. Peter crumpled to the floor, holding his jaw together. Thanos picked him up by the throat and slammed his head against the wall twice, each time his hand closing tighter. 

Peter spat his blood in his face and before he passed out, he flipped him the bird. Peter was vaguely aware of hitting the floor, of his skull cracking against the tile. He was strangely calm, almost amused. If this was dying, he could handle this.

*****

Peter woke up in a hospital bed, his head pounding. He blinked, but he could only see out his left eye, the other covered in a bandage. He turned his head and saw his grandfather asleep in the chair beside him. Bucky stirred and on seeing him waking, called for a nurse. Suddenly someone was hovering over him, shining a light in his good eye. Peter hissed, trying to push them off, only to still when Bucky grabbed his hand.

"Pete, I'm here," Bucky assured. "You're okay. Take a deep breath. You're okay."

"Gamora-"

"She's okay. Just relax for a minute. You've been out four days. I don't want you to stress yourself back into a coma. Breathe, Peter."

Peter listened, trying to keep still as the exam was finished. Bucky squeezed his hand before letting go. 

Bucky promised, "I'll be right back. I'm just going to phone Steve and he'll phone everyone else. Gamora was just getting us both coffee, I'll send her in if you're up for seeing her."

Peter's heart skipped a few beats. "Yeah, I am."

The next two minutes of his life felt like an eternity, but finally Gamora entered the room. Upon seeing him, she froze, holding onto her jacket. 

"I don't look that bad, do I?" Peter joked.

Gamora sat down beside him and he laced his fingers with hers. 

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "This is my fault."

Peter shook his head. "We could go back and forth on that for years, but let's skip to the end. Your stepfather did this to me, not you. He's an asshole and I'm guessing he didn't get away with it if I'm still alive."

Gamora agreed quietly, "No, he didn't. I...I...he..."

She took a deep breath before her confession. "I stabbed him. Seventeen times. Some of them were pretty shallow, but it was enough to take him down. Then I tried to keep you from bleeding out. He was still alive when the cops came and he's likely going to be in jail the rest of his life. At least I hope. It'll be awhile until we know." 

"Are you okay?" Peter asked.

Gamora admitted, "No and I don't think I'm going to be for awhile. But Nebula's safe and you're alive. That's all I care about right now."

"Where is she?"

"At work with Tony. They're both supposed to be off this week but neither of them can sit still long enough to relax." 

"And how about you? You taking up crosswords?"

"No, but your grandfather has been teaching me how to draw. I sketch worse than a toddler but it's keeping me busy. I like your family very much, but they are all very involved in each other's lives. I don't think I've spent more than five minutes alone the last few days. Your childhood home is not big enough for anyone to have any privacy. I can see why you liked West Virginia."

"You've been staying with them? Not with Nebula?"

Gamora admitted. "I wanted to be here when you woke up."

Peter smiled and brushed a loose lock of hair from her face. "I'm glad you were. Otherwise I'd have to deal with my sobbing grandfather and while I love him, he's a real ugly crier. It really kills the whole happy to be alive mood." 

Gamora smiled weakly. "I've seen it, but I think it's sweet. They adore you, all of them. You're very lucky to have such a great family."

Luckily they were interrupted by a nurse adjusting Peter's IVs and setting up his pain medication. If she hadn't been there, Peter might have suggested that his family could be hers too. He might have been foolish enough to ask right there and then if she would marry him. But he knew it would be more romantic if he waited until he had depth perception again. 

Once they were alone again, Peter asked, "Will you move in with Nebula now that I'm no longer on death's door?"

"I don't know," Gamora admitted. "My whole life revolved around keeping her alive. Now that she's fine, I guess I have to figure something else out. Maybe I should set out on my own, give her some space."

Peter swallowed. "And what about us?"

"I don't know. I guess...you had your own plans before I showed up and I don't want to just tag along after you and force you to take care of me financially while I do...I don't know what I'll do."

"You don't have to go anywhere to figure out what you want to do next. Not if you don't want to. We could figure it out together. You could stay. With me. Here for now but then maybe Boston again or anywhere. Just...just stay with me. You could stay with me." 

Gamora questioned, "Are you asking me to?"

Peter admitted, "Kinda begging you to, honestly." 

Gamora kissed him softly and Peter cradled her face in his hand. He kissed her back until the right half of his face reminded him that wasn't a great idea. She pulled away at his obvious grimace, smiling apologetically.

"I'll stay," she promised. "I'll stay with you."

It might have been the large amount of drugs in his system, but Peter felt elated. He didn't actually know what that felt like until right that moment. Elated. Somewhere between manic, euphoric, and high as a kite. It was kinda amazing. He couldn't stop smiling. His face might actually crack in half if he kept smiling like that but he was just so gone for her he couldn't stop. 

They kissed again and again until a nurse came and intervened, threatening to remove Gamora if she kept damaging his face. Soon the rest of the family would arrive anyways, jumping all over and around him as they said how much they loved him and how worried they all were. When visiting hours were over, all of them were shooed out except for his mother who was allowed a moment alone with him. 

Merry held his hands in hers, beaming at her son. Peter fought the urge to hug her really tightly and cry into her shoulder. The drugs were wearing off and everything that had happened hit him as square in the jaw as Thanos had. He sat up enough for Merry to hold him gently, making sure he was supported. 

Peter asked, "You haven't told Gamora anything too embarrassing, have you?"

She teased, "Oh no, my love, that'll wait until you're there to hear it." 

Peter groaned dramatically. "Great. Try not to scare her off. I'm serious about her." 

Merry kissed his forehead. "I know. My brave, brave little boy. I love you so much. A few more days of rest and you'll come home and I'm going to just spoil you. And show your new girlfriend all your baby pictures."

Peter squeezed his mom before lying back down again. She helped him settle into bed and tucked him in, even though he was hours away from sleeping again. But he found it incredibly comforting, closing his eyes as she kissed his forehead once more. When she left, he turned on the TV, skimming through channels until he found a John Wayne marathon.

He thought about that moment a lot over the next six months of his life. There would be two surgeries, physio, several 24-hour migraines, a hundred temporarily forgotten adjectives, and a large extended family consistently staring at him to make sure he wouldn't die on their watch. For six months, he slept in his childhood bedroom, waiting impatiently for his brain to heal enough for him to go back to MIT. He was frustrated some days, pissed off the others, but he was getting better. He always felt like he was getting better, just some days it wasn't fast enough. But on even those worst days, he was still really ridiculously loved. 

It was not the most traditional living arrangement with him and Gamora. He thought it would be awkward living in sin under his grandparents' roof but people seemed to adjust under the circumstances. Gamora could have moved out to stay with Nebula at any point and Peter wouldn't have blamed her but she had made a promise. She was staying with him. And it only made their first place together feel all so more spacious. It was just a studio in Boston, but it was just the two of them, not all three generations of Peter's family. The whole actually cooking and cleaning for themselves was a little weird but it was such a small space to clean up they got used to it by the time Peter went back to classes. 

During all of it, Gamora had tried to figure out what she wanted to do with her life and for the time being, she had decided not to try so hard. She worked as a bouncer at night and during the day she took classes in everything: poetry, pottery, Polish, whatever she wanted. For the first time in her life, she was having fun and that wasn't anything to take for granted. It was something to be wholeheartedly enjoyed and he was so grateful they got to enjoy it together.

**Author's Note:**

> And you thought you were free of Merry's Mix-tapes! Updated with new songs! 
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4OF4TlBU30VFnSSYzwj7gW


End file.
